Steven Kolb is stepping down from his role as CEO of the Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA), the organization announced on Friday night.
“Steven Kolb has been a dedicated leader and tireless champion of American fashion throughout his more than two decades at the CFDA, including 15 years as CEO,” the CFDA Board said in a statement. “We respect Steven’s decision to step down and are grateful for his many years of leadership and service to the CFDA and our industry. He leaves the organization well positioned, with a clear mission and dedicated team, to carry out the important work ahead as we look to the future of American fashion.”
“After 20 years leading the CFDA, I have made the difficult decision to step down as CEO and president,” Kolb said in a statement. “I am enormously proud of what we have built together and believe this is the right moment for both me and the organization to begin a new chapter.”
Kolb had been on leave pending a review as of September 14, a day after he got into a physical altercation with Peta protestors at Cos’s New York Fashion Week show. In video footage, Kolb was seen restraining two protestors who were attempting to get on the runway to demonstrate against sheep wool. In a statement on Monday announcing he was voluntarily going on leave, Kolb apologized and said he planned to meet with Peta. He also said he would be meeting with a professional to make sure a similar incident wouldn’t happen again.
Prior to the protests, Peta had launched an investigation into farms used by H&M Group, Cos’s parent company, and said it had found signs of abuse in the shearing process. (In response, H&M Group says it takes such allegations seriously, and that all of its wool is certified to the RWS, a third-party certification system owned and governed by Textile Exchange.)
Kolb joined the CFDA in 2006 and became CEO in 2011. The CFDA is a nonprofit that oversees American fashion designers, New York Fashion Week, and other industry initiatives including the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund and the CFDA Fashion Awards. The CFDA Board is chaired by Thom Browne and vice chairs Prabal Gurung and Aurora James, and includes other American fashion leaders and designers, such as Tory Burch, Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors, Diane von Furstenberg and Bethann Hardison. No successor has been named.
Read the rest of Kolb’s statement below.
“Over the past two decades, we strengthened the organization financially, expanded its programs and partnerships, increased our philanthropic and scholarship initiatives, supported generations of emerging designers, advanced sustainability and circularity, created opportunities for creatives from underrepresented communities, supported and elevated New York Fashion Week, and broadened the CFDA’s national and global reach.
“What I am most proud of is the impact we have had on American designers — supporting creativity and helping businesses grow.
“None of this was the work of one person. I am deeply grateful to our CFDA members and to the designers, Board members, staff, partners and supporters with whom I have had the privilege of working. I am especially grateful to the four Chairs I served alongside — Stan Herman, Diane von Furstenberg, Tom Ford and Thom Browne — for their leadership, partnership and friendship.
“Leaving after 20 years is deeply emotional, but I do so proud of what we accomplished together and confident in the CFDA’s future. It has been one of the great privileges of my life to serve this community.”
